Compartment freight car



Dec., 8, 1925- A. H. SMITH COMFARTMENT FREIGHT CAR 6 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 9, 1920 Dec. 8, 1925- 1,564,285

A. H. SMITH COMPARTMENT FREIGHT CAR Fi led June 9, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec 8, 1925- 1,564,285

' A. SMITH COMPARTMENT FREIGHT CAR Filed June 9, 1920 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 uumum 4 Patented Dec. 8, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED H. SMITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

COMPARTMENT FREIGHT CAR.

Application filed June 9, 1920. Serial No. 387,518.

- have been adopted and used to prevent or minimize such losses due to theft, but thus far no satisfactory expedient has been produced.

Another source of loss to the railroads has been the placing of freight on platforms where it is necessarily exposed tothe elements and also to theft.

The object of my invention is to provide a series of independent freight and express holding compartments which may be loaded at the factory of the consignor and loaded on a railroad car where itremains undisturbeduntil it reaches its point of destination, and if the oint of destination does not have a suitab e housing for freight the compartment can be set intactand locked on the platform and function in that position as a freight warehouse protectingthe goods from the elements and theft. It is contemplated to place a plurality of these compartments on a single car with the door of one compartment adjacent to the wall of the next adjacent compartment whereby only the imperforate walls of the compartment are exposed when the compartments are in position on the car.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby the respective compartments are suitably and securely anchored and locked to the car against accidental displacement. The compartments are placed upon and removed from the car by means of a crane.

A further object ofmy invention is to position the side walls of the carbeyond vertical plane of the outer face of the side sills of the car and position the stakes inside of the side walls whereby the cubic capacity of the car is increased without increasing the over all dimensions of a standard car.

A further object of my invention is to utilize the wall stakes as anchoring means for the compartments; and with these andv .other objects in view my invention consists of the parts and combination of parts as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a railway car with one compartment in position, parts being in elevation. I Figure 2 is a top plan viewof Figure 1 with the freight compartment being in section.

Figure 3 is a transverse section of Figure 1, parts being in elevation with part of the section taken on line 3, Figure 2 looking in the direction of the arrow.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detailed sectional view through one of the car wall stakes and a corner portion of the compartment, on the line 1-4 of Figure 1.

The reference numeral 1 designates a gondola or other suitable type of car with side walls, two of which are secured to the side sills 3 by means of the 2 bar 4; with suitable rivets, said 2 bar running the entire length of the car. The wall stakes 5 are riveted to the inner face of the walls of the car and extend downwardly below the floorplane of the car and are riveted at their ends to the side sills of the car. These stakes are provided with a corrugation having an upper wall 6 and side walls 7, the side Walls being flared'outwardly so as to give a wedging effect. The upper end of the corrugation is tapered as at 8 to facilitate the engagement of another wedge member therewith.

The freight holding compartment 9 is preferably constructed of sheet metal and is provided with a door 10 mounted upon hinges 11 and provided with a suitable look- I ing means 12. The walls of the compartment extend, as at B shown in Figure 3, below the floor C'of the compartment, said extended portion being reinforced by means of a U shapedchannel bar A, and U shaped bar rigidifying the portion B-of the walls of the compartment so that said projection may function successfully as a base or foot to support the compartment when it is loaded on any surface whereby the floor of the compartment is prevented from coining in contact-with water which may accumulate on the surface on which the compartment may be placed, thereby protecting the goods in the compartment.

At each corner of the compartment I, 'si-' tion a plate on wedging member 13 w ich is secured at one end to a wall of the car by means of the rivets 14, the other end of-the plate being bent around the corner of the compartment as at 15 and secured to another wall of the compartment by means of rivets 16, said rivets 16 passing through the plate 13, a wall of the compartment 9 and an angle iron 17 with which each corner of the compartment is reinforced.

The plate 13 is provided, intermediate its vertical edges, with two upstanding corrugations 18 the inner walls of which corrugations are connected by a web 19 whereby a space is formed between the corrugations 18 within which the corrugation on the stake 5 is adapted to be received after the compartment is lowered onto the car. The walls of the corrugations 18 are preferably given a curvature, as at 20, more clearl; shown in Figure 1, whereby the wedging action between the two wedge members is effective, but at the same time the two members may be separated vertically without undue stress upon either member or element tov which the members are connected.

As a compartment is being loaded on the car, it is positioned so that in lowering it onto the car the corrugations on the stake and on the compartment are centered so that when the compartment is fully seated on the car these corrugated wedge members secure ly anchor and lock the compartment in the car against accidental displacement. The compartments are locked so that the door of each compartment faces a wall of the next adjacent compartment whereby it cannot be opened and whereby the exposed walls of the compartments are imperforate. i

It will of course be understood that changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the scope of the claims. 7

What I claim is:

1. The combintion of a car having side and end walls and stakes secured to the inin position in the car, whereby the compartments are securely anchored inithe car.

' 2. The combmatlon with a car" having side and end walls of stakes secured to the inner.

face of side walls and provided with an outstanding. corrugation, of a plurality of independent freight compartments adapted to be positioned in said car and corrugations on the compartments adapted to interlock with the side stakes of the car when the compartments are in position on the car.

3. The combination with a car having side walls, and stakes secured to the inner face of said sidewalls and provided with an outstanding corrugation tapered at its, upper end, of a plurality of independent freight compartments adapted to be positioned on said car, and a series of locking members of said compartments adapted to engage the corrugation'of each stake and look the compartment in position on the car.

4. The combination with a car having side walls and stakes secured to the inner face of the side walls and provided with a vertically extending corrugation, of a plurality of independent freight compartments adapted to be positioned on said car, plates secured to the walls of each compartment and each provided with a pair of vertically extending corrugations adapted to receive. between them, as the compartment is being lowered into position, the corrugation of each stake whereby the compartment is anchored. and locked in the car.

5. The combination with a car having side and end walls, the side walls being positioned outside of the vertical plane of side sills of the car whereby the cubic capacity of the car is increased, of stakes secured to the inner face of the side walls, of a plurality of independent freight compartments adapted to be positioned in said car, and locking means on the compartments to interlock with said stakes afterthe compartments are placed in position on the carwhereby the compartments are securely anchored to the car.

6. In a transportation unit, a pair of shipping containers, one side wall of each of said containers'being equipped with doors, said containers being secured in position in said unit with doorequipped walls contiguous to each other.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

- ALFRED H. SMITH.

DISCLAIMER 1,564,285.Alf1'ed H. Smith, New York, N. Y. OOMPARTMENT FREIGHT CAR. Patent dated December 8, 1925. Disclaimer filed March 9, 1936, by the assignee, The Less Oarload Lots Company; The L. O. L. Corporation, exclusive licensee, consenting. Hereby enters this disclaimer to claim 6 of said specification. [Ofiicial Gazette March 81, 1.936.] 

